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Scandinavians Looking to Help Develop Iran’s HSE Sector

A Swedish firm and a Norwegian company are interested in cooperation and investment in the health, safety and environment (HSE) sector of Iran’s oil and gas industry.

Shahab Tafazoli, a member of the board of the Society of Iranian Petroleum Industries Equipment Manufacturers, made the statement in a news conference, Mehr News Agency reported.

“Along with the easing of sanctions, Sweden’s Firemiks AB and Norway’s Fire Fighting Systems have reached preliminary agreements on producing fire extinguishers and safety equipment for oil, gas and petrochemical complexes,” he said.

The alliance is aimed at establishing a plant in Iran to produce fire extinguishers and firefighting tanks, among a bevy of safety equipment for oil and gas industry.

Firemiks is a producer of a wide range of safety equipment, including detection systems, fire alarms, fire extinguishers and pumps as well as industrial and residential fire protection systems.

The Norwegian firm also produces firefighting units that can deliver up to 70,000 liters of foam or water per minute to stop massive conflagrations.

According to the FFS website, its products are designed in Norway and manufactured in its base plant in Norway.

Tafazoli added that more than 120 pieces of equipment are used in fire protection at Iranian facilities.

“Huge operational risks, especially in oil and gas refineries, are one of the biggest domestic and global challenges in this industry.”

Firemiks sales director, Per Aredal, reportedly told the media that Stockholm has given the green light to Swedish companies for investment and partnership in Iran’s energy market.

HSE Significance

Iran is hoping to attract billions of dollars to upgrade its aging oil and gas infrastructures following years of hiatus in trade with the outside world that detracted development and investment in the key industry.

The country is taking measures to raise health and safety standards in line with plans to ramp up oil and gas production.

HSE relates to standards for health and safety of employees and contractors and protection of environment.

Improving HSE standards in the oil and gas industry becomes particularly important due to the high physical requirements of working in the heavy industry and the polluting nature of fossil fuels that, if not managed, can lead to irrevocable catastrophes.

Described as “the worst environmental disaster” in the US history, an undersea BP oil well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, killing 11 workers and spilling nearly 5 million barrels of crude that critically endangered wildlife in the region.

Caspian Interest

A major European firm is in negotiations to develop Iran’s Sardar-e-Jangal Field in the Caspian Sea, director of financial affairs at Caspian Oil and Gas Company said on Saturday.

Ramin Khodafarin added that three oil companies from Italy, Denmark and Norway are engaged in negotiations to develop or supply parts for Iran’s oilfields in the Caspian region.

The official refused to name the company, but oil and services firm Aker Solutions could very well be on its way to help Iran extract black gold from its untapped reserves in the north.

According to reports last month, Aker was poised to sign a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Company to build deepwater platforms for both the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea regions.

Iran made its first-ever discovery of hydrocarbon reserves in its Caspian Sea waters in 2012. The deposit, named Sardar-e-Jangal, was found at a depth of 2.5 kilometers. It is estimated to hold around 2 billion barrels of crude and 500 million cubic meters of recoverable natural gas.

However, despite exponential growth in terms of extraction from southern oil and gas fields in the past few years, the Islamic Republic has yet to extract crude from its northern Caspian waters and is markedly trailing its Caspian neighbors who are exploiting the sea’s massive reserves.